Device for avoiding the dislocation of furnaces or ovens



Oct. 1953 J. c. Fo uRMAnorr 2,656,717

DEVICE FOR AYQIDING THE DISLOCATION 0F FURNACES 0R OVENS Filed March 29,1950 2' Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR: JE AN CHARLES FOURMANOII;

BY WMzM Oct. 27, 1953 .1. c. FOURMANOIT 2,656,717

DEVICE FOR AVOIDING THE DISLOCATION OF FURNACES OR OVENS Filed March 29,1950 r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR. JEAN CHARLES FOURMANOH;

Patented Get. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR! AVOIDINGTHE DISLOCATION OF FURI'NACES OVENS Jean Charles; Fourmanoit,Brussels,., Belgium Application March 29,,1950, ser1a1 No. 152,690: InFranceiFebruary 6, 195.0?

2 Claims: 1

This invention relates to an improved appae ratus-method for theconsolidation of metallurgi cal furnaces, carbonisation ovens, or' thelike; in which heterogeneous expansions may produce a dislocation of themasonry.

It is known that oppositefaces of themasonry of such furnaces or ovensare generally retained by means of tie-rods. When the furnace is firedin or out, the masonry expands, and it i's'not' possible to maintainfixed the position of the buckstays usually employedfor"consolidating'thefaces of the furnace. The said buckstays can therefore move apart; It is however desirable that the said bucltstays shallexert a predetermined pressure upon the masonry, so that any dis--placement or" the buckstays shall be due tetherheterogeneous materialsused for the construc-- tion, orbecause in certain places, expansionjoints or compressible substances have been provided. The result of thisis that the bucksta-ys cease to" bear upon certain parts of the masonry;or that the pressure upon other parts becomes too strong. 1

with consequent deteriorations of all kinds;

Qne drawback of the usual tie-rodsforthe consolidation of furnaces isdueto thefact that they are exposed to heat and that they expand whentheir temperature increases when thefurnace is fired, and the amount ofthe expansion thus produced is not known. Even if thanks to the use ofadjusting devices, the stresses of the tie-rods upon the buckstays ismaintained constant, it is not possible to know thereal value of theexpa-n' sion of themasonry. It is however" important to The inventionconsists in apparatus for avoiding a dislocation of masonry inmetallurgical furnaces, carbonisation ovens or the like, which ischaracterized in that opposite faces of the furnace, oven or the like,are held together by means which exert local pressures at various chosenpoints of theface of the furnace or the like,

the intensity of which pressures can be adjusted separatelyat thevarious points chosen, and the adjustment being made by resilient meanspermitting also, at each of the points chosen, to

measure the displacement of the masonry.

Use is made for maintaining opposite faces-of the furnace or the like,of tie-rods capable of acting until the period of expansion has ended,

which tie-rods. consist of fluid-cooled tubes or pipes, the endor endsof" each of the tie-rods beingadapted to transmit the stresses; upon theface or faces of the furnace either direct or through the intermediaryof distributing plates acting locally in the zone of action of thetierod considered, adjustable resilient means being provided to permitan adjustment of the stresses exerted by each tie-rod, and alsoameasurement of the displacement of the masonry.

Each device exerting the said efiorts may" be provided with adistribution plate sufficiently small in order that the surface uponwhich it bears shall transmit. homogeneous stresses, each distributionplate being subjected to a uniformly distributed stress. Some or all ofthe distribution plates may be in one piece, provided that thelatterissufficiently flexible to allow the stress of any singletie-rod' toactlocally, Without in terf'ering with the action of other tie-rods.

No pressure should therefore be exerted upon the masonry by large rigidplates, if the reactions of the masonry are not homogeneous.

An additional advantageoft'he local distribution of the stresses is thatit becomes possible to: measure at each point the amount of thedisplacement under the effect of the expansions; by

the use of the arrangement described hereinafter.-

In order to cause the desired stresses to be exerted upon thedistribution plates which bear upon the masonry, use may be made-forinstance of tie-rods provided with adjustable resilient means; if thesurrounding temperature in which thetie-rod's are placed tends toproduce a creep or a non-resilient elongation, the tie-rod should bemade of a special material, for instance. of steel which does not creepat the maximum temperature which isreached. Such an arrange"- ment hasthe advantage that it allows of measuring the elongation of the masonry,without-the measurement being distorted by some unknown elongation of.thetierrodsthemselvesdue to high temperature.

According to the present invention, it is also possible to use thetie-rods for simultaneously exerting local stresses upon the masonry andstresses upon the buckstays and upon the usual reinforcing members ofthe furnace; the distribution of stresses may thus be effected by anadjustment of two independent resilient means. This arrangement allowsof using tie-rods for consolidating mainly the masonry during a certainperiod of time, and then the buckstays, or vice versa.

The application of localized stresses upon the masonry allows of makinguse of a special consolidation arrangement. According to one feature ofthe present invention, rigid frames are formed upon each face of thefurnace or the like with the usual buckstays and with additionalreinforcing members, which frames do not bear direct upon the masonry.The frames of two opposite faces are connected by means of tie-rods,which are fluid-cooled, and which are provided with resilient meansallowing to adjust the stresses exerted, and to measure thedisplacements of the frames. Adjustable resilient means working underpressure may be inserted between the masonry and the frames.

Use may be made, as resilient means, of known means such as springs,compressible washers or the like.

The resilient means may also consist according to the present invention,of hydraulic or pneumatic means capable of being individually adjusted.It is also possible to connect such hydraulic or pneumatic means to acentral pressure distributing device; in this way, it is possible toexert at various points upon each local resilient device, pressureswhich are equal or which are interrelated in a. pre-determined ratio,such pressures remaining unchanged, Whatever the displacements of thepoints where they are exerted, may be. The resilient means may beprovided with a scale or other like means permitting to measure theamount of the displacement.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which show the inventiondiagrammatically and by way of example:

Fig. l is a front view of a furnace in which the stresses upon themasonry are exerted by tie-rods which are cooled by a refrigeratingfluid through the intermediary of distributing plates, and ofcompressible washers.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken at a right angle to the view shown inFig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the end of a measuring tierod which is fluid-cooled.

Fig. 5 shows a fluid-cooled tie-rod ensuring simultaneously the bracingof the masonry and of a reinforcing buckstay or frame.

Fig. 6 is a front view of a furnace, the masonry of two opposite facesof which being held together by means of an arrangement including arigid frame.

Fig. '2 is a view of the furnace perpendicular to the View shown in Fig.6.

Fig. 8 shows compressible resilient means used according to theinvention.

Fig. 9 shows resilient pressure means of the hydraulic type.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the reference numeral i represents themasonry of that face of the furnace which is to be strengthened, 2 is anadmission opening to the interior of the furnace, 3 are water-cooledtie-rods, 4 are plates for distributing the stresses, and 5 areresilient means.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the numeral 6 shows a tie-rod, 4 is acomparatively small plate for distributing the stresses, 5 is theresilient means (compressible washers in this example), I is a nutpermitting to compress and to adjust the washers, 8 is a device forconnecting the rod to a collector for a cooling fluid, and 9 shows theamount of the expansion of the masonry. The said amount is measured byloosening the nut 1 and by measuring the displacement produced when aconstant deflection of the compressible washers is maintained.

Referring to Fig. 5, the numerals L3, 3, 5, l and 8 show the same partsas in the other figures. The numeral H3 shows a reinforcing beam, Hshows the resilient means acting upon the reinforcing beam, [2 is a nutpermitting to exert a pressure upon the beam. By loosening the nut 12,it is possible to measure the displacement of the beam when a constantdeflection of the compressible washers is maintained. The beam iii maybe brought to bear against the nut i.

Referring to Figs. 6 and '7, the numeral i shows the masonry of afurnace face, 2 is an admission opening to the interior of the furnace,13 are buckstays forming rigid frames together with horizontalreinforcing means i i; the numeral it shows tie-rods of the usual typewhich connect the rigid frames together, it are tie-rods cooled by afluid, l? are resilient pressure means for retaining the masonry, and 21are plates for the distribution of the stresses.

Referring to Fig. 8, the numeral iii shows compressible washers, 2c is anut permitting to regulate the amount of the deflection, and 2! is a.plate for the distribution of the stresses.

Referring to Fig. 9. the numerals 22 and 23 show members adapted toslide relatively to one another, 25 is a space filled with fluid underpressure, and 25 is a collecting conduit connected to an expansion valvepreventing the pressure from exceeding a predetermined value.

I claim:

1. A device for measuring dislocations of masonry in metallurgical andparticularly in carbonization furnaces, comprising a plurality oftubular tie-rods to reinforce th opposite walls of said furnaces, saidtie-rods projecting with their ends from said walls, means at the end ofsaid projecting tie'rods for the supply of a cooling fluid into thesame, resilient washers located on said projecting tie-rods adjacentlyto said furnace walls, nuts on said tie-rods adjacently to saidresilient washers, whereby the thermal expansion of said walls can beascertained by the loosening of said nuts and the thereby causedreestablishment of the original size of said resilient washers.

2. In a device according to claim 1, reinforcing beams applied to saidtubular tie-rods and re silient pressure means located on the end ofsaid tie-rods to exert a pressure upon said reinforcing beams.

JEAN CHARLES FOURMANOIT.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTSNumber

